pchapman

Heh, heh, I think ChrisD might just be short a comma. "I will provide care, as I have done since..." vs. "I will provide care as I have done since..."

Interesting point of view ChrisD. I wonder if sometimes the fear of liability may make people deviate too far in a particular direction. "Let's not touch the injured guy, just call 911, don't want to be sued for doing the wrong thing!" ... which could then happen anyway for doing so little. You mentioned in the Lodi Oct 14, 2018 accident thread: Seriously, that gets into grey areas. What if the guy is conscious and says "Don't cut my effing gear.... take 20 seconds to unthread the leg straps." Do you? There are going to be plenty of cases where you might decide something is medically necessary, or that the injured guy doesn't realize the extent of his injuries. What sorts of criteria do you have? Hope you aren't just jerks who don't give a shit about gear. There are going to be cases you want to take full control. Like the guy trying to stand up and walk it off while there are concerns about spinal injuries. And does religion and believing in imaginary creatures matter? "I'm in a weird religion... I don't allow transfusions, or for paramedics to cut off any gear without my express permission. God forbids it!" The normal strategy I guess is to get straps undone before the EMT's arrive....

Ah, names do get reused. Not to be confused with the National Renegade in the 1980s, a nearly unknown and not very good ram air from the folks better known for their round reserves.

Basically if you complain at all about something on DZ.com you might get pegged as a complainer. If you then try to defend yourself... jeez, you're pretty defensive, like you're some kind of jerk. If you then say you're not a jerk.... well, only some kind of jerk would be such a defensive jerk. Hard to win. Sometimes you just have to shut up and take it. As for the jumping-with-no-green-after-a-red: I'd expect for that kind of mistake just to get a talking to. Oops, you screwed up, you learned. At worst, stand down for a day. I personally wouldn't expect a couple week ban unless you were deliberately screwing around and intentionally totally disregarding DZ rules. But every DZ is diffferent. [shrug] I can understand how it happened, with all the "green light pressure" at some DZ's. You got a bit flustered, made a bad assumption, and then another signal (the guy pointing at the door) got interpreted in a way that matched your current plan ('hey he's pointing for me to get the hell out'). Sometimes pilots do things wrong with the lights too, or go red on the light with no notice of jumprun, or go on jump run at a different altitude than planned, or go red to green in moments, leading to all sorts of scrambles for the jumpers. Pilots aren't always perfect either. One friend was in a Caravan when the pilot accidentally turned the green light on at 1500'. My friend whipped the door open and jumped. I think more to have fun than actually believing it to be an emergency. He was under a Parafoil so he didn't mind. One thing that should have clued you in, was that even as you said, the light went from green to red for NINETY SECONDS.... which might have you wondering whether the spot would actually still be ok afterwards. It still worked out for you to get back, but a little less rush at the door would have made sense. As for clouds, that's another issue and varies by DZ too.

Yeah that's pretty overstuffed in the bag. At least chain a couple elastics together for the first two stows, so those two aren't overstressed and break too easily? And follow some of the earlier advice in the thread -- check container vs. canopy volume, and have an experienced packer pack it.

I'd disagree with that. Note that I did then include some warnings and limits. But yes generally one doesn't want a ton of fabrics ticking out, and many may disagree with me about fabric sticking out in general, as it really isn't 'normal' or the way main bags are planned to be used. Still, consider the attached example from one manufacturer's reserve packing manual -- there's plenty of canopy sticking out in the official manual for a system certificated to 150 kts. Having some canopy sticking out isn't the end of the world, even if we can probably agree that in most situations it isn't ideal. [inline wingsreserve.jpg]

As long as you can close it... I've even had elastics strung 2 in a line to close an over-stuffed bag, or later replaced the extra elastics by short loops of binding tape, to act as extensions to the elastic anchors. Or used Tube Stows that can stretch more without constant breaking like overstretched elastics. The caveats though: While a little exposed parachute isn't a problem at the speeds we use, you do still want to make sure the canopy isn't going to squeeze out of the bag somehow. One better make sure that overstretched elastics are in good condition and replaced often enough to avoid stripping the bag off during opening. Which is seriously bad. As others are saying, it is still important that the bag does come out of the container without being jammed in place.

Good on you for reporting back on your experience, even though the results show that it didn't turn out to be the best idea!

I don't know what different jurisdications do, but where I am (Toronto,Ontario), power bills are divided into a fixed and variable amount. So the consumer might at first think there's a great deal of savings by using power at night rather than during peak pricing periods -- The variable rate for one is double that of the other. But the fixed costs predominate. Taking my bill for example on one summer month (small house, with no a/c use), only 43% of my pre-tax bill was the variable amount for electricity used, and the rest was a fixed charge for delivery to my home. This may well be better way to allocate costs than charging purely by the kilowatt-hour, but it does somewhat diminish the usefulness of trying to save money by using off-peak power, despite all the energy saving hype about it! So I would want that those providing renewable power out from their homes at times, still pay their share for the whole grid system and administration. (It could still be argued that if a home really does put out a lot of power, maybe a net surplus, then they shouldn't need to pay the same amount as a regular home user, and a more complex pricing model should be adopted.)

I don't think it is about reserves opening or not. It must be partially about standards for inspections for damage, dirt, and wear. Surely they must be thinking about higher "commercial & students" standards vs. those for "private use by those experienced in the sport".

He played the young jumper Malcolm in The Gypsy Moths. Also known for roles The Right Stuff, The Walking Dead, and more. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/scott-wilson-star-of-in-cold-blood-and-the-walking-dead-dies-at-76/2018/10/07/7abf4076-ca3c-11e8-a3e6-44daa3d35ede_story.html (Not sure if everyone can access a few WaPo stories or not. If not, turn off JavaScript & reload.) Photo is a cap from the movie. Scott in yellow, Burt Lancaster red, Gene Hackman in white.

Wouldn't that line of thinking (true or not) suggest that it is better NOT to be a group member, so one can say that one didn't sign a pledge to follow all the rules? Or indeed be a non USPA DZ, but say that one uses rules similar to the USPA, plus USPA instructors to get students to attain USPA ratings that are internationally recognized? The fewer rules you have promised to keep, the fewer rules you will have broken. And really, how true is your statement anyway? If there's an accident being litigated, does it really matter if last season someone did an unrelated hop and pop load with experienced jumpers at 2000', rather than the newer 2500'? Like that's really going to change your liability?

Even leaving aside sexual assault accusations, Kavanaugh lied repeately during his hearings. No, the FBI hasn't probably collected proof during their silly little investigation, but everyone expects he lied directly about his drinking, 'blackouts' or similar, those supposed innocuous drinking games, the yearbook comments (so friendly towards a female colleague), etc. Republicans once again stand up for outright lying, the sub-humans they try to show themselves to be. Does he have government or business experience, beyond being a carpenter or something? He supports democracy? I heard he was some kind of religious bigot, who wouldn't support the fundamental religious freedoms of any modern democratic state like the US has tried at times to be. (And,his dad -- whom he's really close to -- was a brutal tyrant murderer according to some Old Testament book I heard of. Crazy old freak.) Peace and love sounds nice, but I hope Jesus can back it up with more than a nice slogan. Sounds pretty hopey, changey...

Indeed it suggests that to be more sophisticated about it, one would need a method of staging the bridle. Put our pilot chutes in little bags with stows for the bridle.

That's all good if you have a buddy with land that's downwind of the launch point's prevailing winds. But otherwise, even if one plans to "land near a road to the WSW" , one is still going to trespass on someone's land.... near a road to the WSW. So do commercial balloon operations try to land in particular fields on a regular basis, when doing passenger flights? Educate me.

Yes, that's a basic part of balloon operations. It is a weird social convention that not everyone would be comfortable with and that probably isn't very clearly spelled out in law.

I could use some translation there, including from farmer-ese. What is a seed field? Is it free from visible crops (just seeded?) -- which looks ideal to land in? Or is it just crops like any other field with stuff growing -- but that you happen to growing for seed? In which case some meadow or field with cut hay would be a better target. So how was it a douche thing to do, to land in your field - other than that it is YOUR field? Did you verify that his balloon navigational skills were poor? Using different air layers winds backing or veering would be expensive in terms of fuel I would think. So as long as he wasn't heading towards dangerous territory or a tough retrieve by his ground crew, wouldn't a field in any direction be as good as any other? I'm trying to get at why the 14 miles thing matters. Balloons in general do effectively have this weird system where they are 99% likely to trespass when on a flight, just that whose land gets trespassed on, is a bit random. Just trying to understand the situation from a farmer's point of view -- Other than that balloons dropping in are clearly an annoyance.

In AFF, you are TRAINED to do everything yourself. Including how to pull, and what to do if tumbling or spinning. If you jumped solo, with no prior experience in the air or wind tunnel, you would probably tumble or spin.... 90% chance? 95%? I don't know. Depending on what the student does, that could be solved quickly (e.g., by deploying a parachute right away) or be expensive (losing equipment if using the reserve parachute) or be dangerous (having a parachute open by automatic activation device very close to the ground). In any case, there would likely be little learning about freefall control achieved. So you have instructors there to help you, who will be there (as already stated) 99% of the time. Especially if you don't freak out and do something crazy. So jumping with 2 instructors is a lot safer.

A bit harsh. Sort of like saying if you hire a crook, it is entirely your own fault. But we all live and learn. I could hire a contractor who says he can do job X around the house but find out he's also learning as he goes about the job and either didn't realize it himself or didn't tell me. So I learn I should have hired someone with a different skill set. Sometimes learning as you go works -- takes extra times, saves some money -- and sometimes it turns a job into a mess. Certainly one would expect some better planning when it comes to checking SB's & AD's for any engine and components. There may have been a mismatch of expectations between the two individuals about where and how to save money on the job. But I get your point that for a big rebuild an experienced engine shop may be the best path, despite the cost.

You may well just be asking an innocent question about the types of instruction available. That's ok. But to skydivers, it sounds like you are too focused on looking cool rather than being willing to take the time to learn properly, or are too macho to want any instructors touching you in freefall. As mentioned, one other method of learning is static line (or similar Instructor Assisted Deployment) but you don't get real freefall until you have done well over a number of jumps. If you want to learn skateboarding on your own, go ahead. But for skydiving, the sensible way to do it is to go through one of the well thought out programs that already exist for students.

No biggie. I just like to stand up for newbies asking questions, even if their questions sound dumb to us. (As long as they don't show too much know-it-all attitude.) And we don't exactly have a consistent system of directions in skydiving, relative to a rig. @ melk: Historically canopies tended to be bigger than now, so we didn't normally have main d-bags that were as short (bridle to flap) as they were thick. So the standard was what we have now, bridle exiting towards the reserve container. Only with 'squarer' bags did it make more sense to start experimenting with 'standing the bag up' rather than 'rotating it down 90 degrees' to go into the container.

C'mon, he isn't just changing things. Ok, except for 'standing the bag up' in the tray. And we don't know why he did that -- It might have been recommended to him. Lots of things are old or debatable or simplified in manuals without showing valid alternatives. Sometimes skydivers change things for the better. Sometimes they change things to a valid alternative. (e.g., Does everyone make sure they fold their BOC as listed in their own rig's manual? No. There are a variety of valid ways and it isn't like a Javelin pilot chute pack job will kill you if used in a Vector III. And yes I checked, they are different. ) Sometimes skydivers change things to be more appropriate to a particular discipline (e.g, wingsuiting). Sometimes they change things... and just following the manual would have been better. What does a newbie do if experienced riggers and packers tell him different things?? He specifically said he is coming here to better sort out what people are saying. Asking questions is a good thing, a good attitude in the sport.

Well duh. But does the USPA do an annual report on skydiving-related deaths from aircraft? Or just the odd article once or twice a decade? I'm not in the USPA so don't know. Certainly the deaths in aircraft are from drop zone activities directly related to skydiving operations. The ski industry might be concerned, for example, if ski lifts were constantly toppling over, even if some said, "But that's not skiing!". Yes, the info would be in a separate list to skiing accidents, but still relevant to getting up and down a hill alive. I suppose it depends on who the USPA represents, DZO business owners, or individual skydivers. I'll let others debate that!

Wendy is right about giving students a chance. When PFF (AFF) was brand new at my DZ, and the instructors were brand new, we ended up worrying about accidentally holding back students by hanging on to them too much. One can't wait until they are perfect, before giving them a lighter grip or having 1 or 2 instructors let the student go. Especially as a newbie instructor, the tendency is to death grip on to the student 'to be safe'. On the other hand, especially on a student's first times free from either instructor, one has to stay CLOSE and stay focused. Otherwise before you know it they've drifted 10 feet away and that little turn of theirs has started to speed up uncontrollably...and it would have been much easier to counter & stop early had one been only 3 ft away.

To understand the base rate statistics, what proportion of US generals or colonels & above are female? Are you suggesting a 50/50 split? Or, similarly, since the writer of the Resistance piece was supposedly a "senior official in the administration", if Trump doesn't shoot a gun down 5th Avenue, but shoots a random senior member of his administration, what are the chances that he shoots a female vs. a male? (Of course, someone predicting something was written by a male becomes a more trivial observation as the proportion of males approaches 100%.) Joe's comment about the opinion letter reflecting a certain military mindset seems to be the more important observation in any case.